Richmond lost ruckman Toby Nankervis to concussion early on Saturday after his head hit the turf at Wangaratta's Norm Minns Oval, with defender David Astbury also suffering a head knock.
Hardwick said the club wasn't prepared to push the premiership duo with 11 days to prepare for the next JLT Community Series clash against North Melbourne.
The coach was most pleased with the Tigers' defensive effort and ability to re-establish their high-pressure brand at the first opportunity, out-tackling the Bombers 47-41 and winning the contested ball 127-115.
"We play as the hunter and I think we saw that today," the coach said.
"We spoke to our players about re-establishing the way we play early, and it probably wasn't quite to the level in the first quarter.
"But once the boys got up and going it becomes infectious and we started to show when we play that way we're really hard to handle."
Hardwick said the Tigers would field another strong line-up against the Kangaroos, while including some young players, potentially father-son pick Patrick Naish.
The coach said the plan had always been to restrict Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin and captain Trent Cotchin to three quarters, and defender Bachar Houli to a half.
Source: AFL website